O'Connell's Mother Talks About Moeller Execution

There will be no more delays in the case of convicted child killer Donald Moeller. After decades of appeals, Moeller's attorney told a federal judge Moeller does not want to wait to die any more.

Moeller was convicted in 1997 for the rape and murder of Becky O'Connell. Last month, Moeller's execution was set for a day between October 28 and November 3. The exact date and time are up to prison officials. O'Connell's mother, Tina Curl, now lives in New York State but says she will be in South Dakota watching Moeller die.

“It's been hard,” Curl said by phone Tuesday evening. “All I could think about is how Beck fought when he was raping and murdering her. She lost. Now he's all done fighting because he's lost.”

Curl said she was surprised by the news that a man who had used multiple appeals gave up his fight. She says it doesn't make things easier because no news will bring her daughter back.

“Becky never got to have birthdays. Moeller still had birthdays,” Curl said. “And it's been nothing but hell for 22 years waiting for the day that the man who murdered my daughter would be put to death. It's been a long 22 years, let me tell you. I never thought I'd see the day.”

Curl vows to watch Moeller die. There are things about her daughter's disappearance she still wants to know from Moeller. But because his days on death row are numbered, Curl doesn't know if those questions will ever be answered. For now, she's content knowing Moeller will finally face what she sees as justice for her daughter after Becky’s brutal 1990 death.

“I won't get any piece of mind until I get to see Moeller turn color on that table. And I will be there to see it,” Curl said.

The warrant for execution comes despite a pending 1983 federal lawsuit to which Moeller is part of arguing the state did not follow procedures in setting its execution method. He has authorized no one to ask that his execution be halted.

Curl and her family are raising money to make the trip from New York to South Dakota. Her family has even set up a Facebook Page for Justice For Becky O'Connell leading up to the execution.